A Spy's Home---Book 3: A Friend I've Never Met

Chapter 3

Rory and I looked up at the old abandoned motel that had cracks in the stone, broken windows on all floors, and vines were crawling on the side? "Um, Zyl, are you sure this is the right address?" Rory asked, and I had to re-read the address paper that Luke had given me.

"Yeah, this is it." I simply answered. We snuck to the door, and looked around; the sidewalk was deserted. I twisted the rusty door-knob and pushed it open; it gave out a loud creaking sound.

"Hello! We're here!" I called into the interior of the crumbling structure. Immediately after we both completely entered the building, the door slammed shut, plunging us into darkness with the only light sources being some broken windows that were barred by wood planks.

I felt the hairs on the back of my neck prick up and turned my gaze toward Rory, who nodded his head. In nearly perfect sync, Rory and I spun around, grabbed the presence, and pinned them against the cracked, stone wall. The would-be attacker grunted as they impacted the wall, and I was surprised to see that it wasn't Luke, but a young girl I've never seen before.

As I tried to make sense of what was going on, I was startled out of thought by a slow clapping sound behind us. Rory and I turned our heads without letting go of the girl, and watched as Luke stepped out of the shadows clapping his hands and smirking. "Well, at least I know your skills aren't rusty." he exclaimed. "Who's she?" Rory asked, gesturing to the girl we were still pinning.

"The name's Lilian, now let me go before I break your nose." the girl answered. Rory narrowed his eyes, and looked at Luke for confirmation. "Twin sister." he answered, which caused us both to let go.

"Nice place you got." I said, smirking as Lilian walked to Luke's side. "I gotta keep a low profile, and that's going to be hard with people around." Luke answered. I turned to Lilian, and stuck out my hand. "Nice to meet you, I'm Zylina, and this is Rory." I introduced myself, in a gesture of truce.

Lilian shook my hand, but quickly pulled it back. "Sorry, we didn't know you were related to Luke." I apologized, trying to make peace between us.

Lilian grunted, and I realized she was going to be quite stubborn. "Come into the living area. I need to explain some things." Luke gestured toward the next room, and we followed. "So why did you reveal yourself?" I questioned him, as I sat down next to Rory, Luke plopped down on the sofa across from us, and was joined by his sister moments later.

"To be brief, the Academy caught wind somehow of somebody giving you those two clues, and so they started to investigate." he explained. My eyes went wide and I glanced at Rory before exclaiming, "The sudden stop of Academy related cases." Rory nodded in agreement, and Luke continued.

"They wanted me to hack into some of the government computers, it's amazing how much they trusted me, but it took me longer than it should have." Luke looked over at Lilian, who averted her eyes toward her feet, before he finished, "Then a couple days ago, the Academy sent several cadets to invade my house. I got Lilian out, but my parents...." his voice drifted off, but he didn't have to finish for Rory and I to understand.

"I'm sorry." I apologized softly. I saw Lilian's eyes weld up with tears, and her fists squeeze shut until the knuckles turned white. She mumbled something, and Rory and I turned to each other then back at her.

"What?" Rory questioned, and I knew it was a bad idea. Lilian shot up from where she was sitting, and shouted, "It's all your fault!" We all flinched, and Luke quickly grabbed her wrist to pull her back into a sitting position.

She kept her eyes narrowed and fixed on Rory, and for a second I thought they were having a stare off because Rory was staring right back at Lilian. "It's not your guys' fault. If anything it's mine for leading the Academy straight to my family." Luke tried defending us.

Lilian tried to free herself from Luke restraints, but he managed to keep her down, and I shifted awkwardly on the couch. For several intense moments, Lilian continued to stare daggers into both Rory and me, and I started to feel like it was my fault that their parents were killed. 

TBC....